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Dual anti-platelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel must be continued for a longer time period after implantation of
DES than after BMS implantation, and treatment for 12 months is usually recommended.
Aspirin should be continued life-long. Clinically, there is a temporal link between cessation of dual anti-platelet therapy
and the occurrence of stent thrombosis (9), and recently presented registry data indicate that some patients might
benefit from prolonged dual anti-platelet therapy (10,11).However, dual anti-platelet therapy for more than 12 months has not been tested in clinical trials and is, therefore,
currently not recommended, because long-term dual anti-platelet therapy is associated with an increased risk of
bleeding complications (12). The challenge is to find the optimal balance in order to achieve the lowest possible risk of
stent thrombosis without subjecting patients to an unnecessary risk of bleeding complications.
Perspectives: future prevention of stent thrombosis
Stents coated with new cytotoxic drugs and polymers may have different properties in terms of affecting
endothelialisation, vascular inflammation and induction of tissue factor activity.
Coating with NO-donors may decrease platelet adhesion and aggregation.
Stents coated with CD34-antibodies may capture circulating endothelial progenitor cells and may be able to prevent
thrombosis by increasing and accelerating endothelial coverage.
Furthermore, development of biodegradable stents might also be a way to decrease the incidence of late and very late
stent thrombosis.
Anti-thrombotic therapy is likely to be optimised with the development of new more efficient anticoagulants and anti-
platelet drugs with a lower risk of bleeding complications. Patients and health personnel should be informed about the
risk associated with premature cessation of therapy.
Development of new tests able to assess platelet inhibition may identify patients with a reduced benefit from aspirin or
clopidogrel and may make it possible to further individualise and optimize anti-platelet therapy.
The risk of stent thrombosis has been a known complication after PCI for quite a long time and might be increased afterimplantation of DES. The issue of in-stent thrombus formation, therefore, has attracted great attention once again.
Though evidence remains inconclusive, some studies indicate that the incidence of late and very late stent thrombosis
is increased after DES implantation.
Importantly, it is unknown whether very late stent thrombosis is a time limited phenomenon and, thus, the problem might
increase, if events continue to accrue over time.
As a consequence, large-scale clinical trials with long-term follow-up as well as mechanistic studies are highly
warranted. Currently, it is not known whether very late stent thrombosis is prevented with an extended course of dual
anti-platelet therapy.
Certainly, the issue of stent thrombosis emphasizes the importance of careful patient selection and individualised
therapy which, in future, might partly be based on measurement of the intensity of platelet inhibition.
References
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for coronary revascularization. N Engl J Med 2002;346(23):1773-1780.
2. Moses JW, Leon MB, Popma JJ, Fitzgerald PJ, Holmes DR, O'Shaughnessy C, Caputo RP, Kereiakes DJ,
Williams DO, Teirstein PS, Jaeger JL, Kuntz RE. Sirolimus-eluting stents versus standard stents in patients
with stenosis in a native coronary artery. N Engl J Med 2003;349(14):1315-1323.
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T.Srensen, Leif Thuesen. Stent thrombosis after implantation of drug-eluting or bare metal coronary stents in
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JD, Flather MD, Haffner SM, Hamm CW, Hankey GJ, Johnston SC, Mak KH, Mas JL, Montalescot G, Pearson
TA, Steg PG, Steinhubl SR, Weber MA, Brennan DM, Fabry-Ribaudo L, Booth J, Topol EJ. Clopidogrel and
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Autor: Grove E.C.L. MD and Kristensen S.D. MD, DMSc, FESC
Fuente: European Society of Cardiology
Ultima actualizacion: 06 DE FEBRERO DE 2009